Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to set apart this time for fasting and prayer before the Lord is encouraging, and it is right to want your motives, your focus, your prayers and your actions to be purified and pleasing to Jesus Christ.
Scripture teaches that prayer rests on relationship. Jesus gave His disciples a model for prayer, not words to repeat without thought, but a pattern that shows how prayer works. It begins with Father. That address matters more than anything else, because it declares who you are speaking to and who you are in Him. If a person has not yet come to God through Jesus Christ, the prayer God desires first is, God be merciful to me, a sinner, which opens the way into that Father and child relationship. When that relationship is established, prayer becomes a living communion. It is helpful also to remember that God delights to become to you what you need in that moment. When you pray for healing He reveals Himself as the Lord who heals, when you need strength He becomes your strength and your shelter.
The purpose of prayer is not to compel God to do what we want, but to see His will accomplished. Prayer moves in a circle. It begins with God and His purposes, He places those desires on our hearts, we speak them back to Him, and He answers according to His perfect will. For that reason the heart of your request is good, that this time would be according to the will of God and led by the Holy Spirit and grounded in the living Word of God. Prayer that is worship, that stands in awe of who God is, and that seeks His kingdom and His glory, is prayer that aligns us with Him. It is not the loudness of a voice or the length of time on your knees that makes prayer effective. The prayers recorded in the Bible are often very brief. What matters is a sincere heart that trusts the Father, not volume or many words. God hears because you are His child coming in the name of Jesus, not because you speak loudly.
Fasting is spoken of in both the Old and New Testaments. We read of Jesus fasting forty days before His public ministry, and of prophets and servants like Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra and Nehemiah who fasted as they sought God. Jesus taught that some spiritual battles are faced only through prayer joined with fasting. Fasting in its simplest sense is a turning from feeding the physical to feeding the spiritual. As the body is denied, the spiritual life is strengthened. A fast does not have to mean abstaining from all food to be meaningful before God. Any sincere denial of the flesh offered to the Lord, as your health and responsibilities allow, is seen by Him. What He looks for is a heart set on Him.
You also asked for strength for this time. Jesus Himself showed us where true strength comes from. Though He was the Son of God, He continually withdrew to commune with the Father, and He drew strength, guidance and life itself from that communion. How much more do we need that same communion. As you bring your needs to God, prayer will also shift your focus. Many psalms begin with fear and trouble, yet they end with praise and confidence, because in prayer the focus moves from the problem to the Lord who is a strong tower and a refuge. Let your prayer end with praise, with confidence that God has heard and will act according to His wisdom and love.
Concerning healing and freedom in spirit, soul and body, we believe God still heals. Healing was central in the ministry of Jesus and continued in the early church where the sick were brought for prayer. The Scripture says the fervent, heartfelt prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and that when two or three agree on earth about anything according to His will, He hears. We join our faith with yours now. At the same time, there is much about healing we do not fully understand. Sometimes healing is immediate, sometimes it is gradual, and sometimes God answers as He did to the apostle Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Any healing, whether of body, mind or heart, is from Him, and He may bring restoration in ways we do not expect, including healing of inward wounds and scars. We trust Him as the healer while resting in His sovereign goodness.
Let us pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come to You. We thank You that through Jesus we can call You Father. Sanctify this dear one in heart and motive, in thought and deed, that all that is offered today would be a pleasing fragrance before Christ. Lead this time of fasting and prayer by Your Holy Spirit and according to Your Word, and let it be done entirely according to Your will. Grant strength for the body and clarity for the soul. Be to this child what is needed most today, strength, peace, healer and refuge. We ask for Your healing and freedom in spirit, soul and body, by the wounds and the name of Jesus, as You will and for Your glory. We trust Your answer, and we give You the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.
May the Lord keep your heart stayed on Him today and fill your mouth with His praise.
Scripture teaches that prayer rests on relationship. Jesus gave His disciples a model for prayer, not words to repeat without thought, but a pattern that shows how prayer works. It begins with Father. That address matters more than anything else, because it declares who you are speaking to and who you are in Him. If a person has not yet come to God through Jesus Christ, the prayer God desires first is, God be merciful to me, a sinner, which opens the way into that Father and child relationship. When that relationship is established, prayer becomes a living communion. It is helpful also to remember that God delights to become to you what you need in that moment. When you pray for healing He reveals Himself as the Lord who heals, when you need strength He becomes your strength and your shelter.
The purpose of prayer is not to compel God to do what we want, but to see His will accomplished. Prayer moves in a circle. It begins with God and His purposes, He places those desires on our hearts, we speak them back to Him, and He answers according to His perfect will. For that reason the heart of your request is good, that this time would be according to the will of God and led by the Holy Spirit and grounded in the living Word of God. Prayer that is worship, that stands in awe of who God is, and that seeks His kingdom and His glory, is prayer that aligns us with Him. It is not the loudness of a voice or the length of time on your knees that makes prayer effective. The prayers recorded in the Bible are often very brief. What matters is a sincere heart that trusts the Father, not volume or many words. God hears because you are His child coming in the name of Jesus, not because you speak loudly.
Fasting is spoken of in both the Old and New Testaments. We read of Jesus fasting forty days before His public ministry, and of prophets and servants like Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra and Nehemiah who fasted as they sought God. Jesus taught that some spiritual battles are faced only through prayer joined with fasting. Fasting in its simplest sense is a turning from feeding the physical to feeding the spiritual. As the body is denied, the spiritual life is strengthened. A fast does not have to mean abstaining from all food to be meaningful before God. Any sincere denial of the flesh offered to the Lord, as your health and responsibilities allow, is seen by Him. What He looks for is a heart set on Him.
You also asked for strength for this time. Jesus Himself showed us where true strength comes from. Though He was the Son of God, He continually withdrew to commune with the Father, and He drew strength, guidance and life itself from that communion. How much more do we need that same communion. As you bring your needs to God, prayer will also shift your focus. Many psalms begin with fear and trouble, yet they end with praise and confidence, because in prayer the focus moves from the problem to the Lord who is a strong tower and a refuge. Let your prayer end with praise, with confidence that God has heard and will act according to His wisdom and love.
Concerning healing and freedom in spirit, soul and body, we believe God still heals. Healing was central in the ministry of Jesus and continued in the early church where the sick were brought for prayer. The Scripture says the fervent, heartfelt prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and that when two or three agree on earth about anything according to His will, He hears. We join our faith with yours now. At the same time, there is much about healing we do not fully understand. Sometimes healing is immediate, sometimes it is gradual, and sometimes God answers as He did to the apostle Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Any healing, whether of body, mind or heart, is from Him, and He may bring restoration in ways we do not expect, including healing of inward wounds and scars. We trust Him as the healer while resting in His sovereign goodness.
Let us pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come to You. We thank You that through Jesus we can call You Father. Sanctify this dear one in heart and motive, in thought and deed, that all that is offered today would be a pleasing fragrance before Christ. Lead this time of fasting and prayer by Your Holy Spirit and according to Your Word, and let it be done entirely according to Your will. Grant strength for the body and clarity for the soul. Be to this child what is needed most today, strength, peace, healer and refuge. We ask for Your healing and freedom in spirit, soul and body, by the wounds and the name of Jesus, as You will and for Your glory. We trust Your answer, and we give You the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.
May the Lord keep your heart stayed on Him today and fill your mouth with His praise.
